This visit will also serve as a point of conclusion on the India–Japan nuclear agreement which the two governments have been pushing for a long time.

While grassroots anti-nuclear movements have been organised for places like Kudankulam, Jaitapur, Fatehabad, Kovvada, Mithi Virdi and Chutka, larger cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, too, will see demonstrations by citizens groups.

The first phase of the series of protests was initiated yesterday at Azad Maidan in Mumbai. “The activity is targeted against the India-Japan nuclear agreement, which has been in pipeline for several years and is likely to be culminated during Shinzo Abe’s visit,” explains anti-nuclear activist Anuj Wankhede.

Further elaborating on the purpose and demands of this nationally orchestrated event, he says, “This nuclear agreement is anachronistic, absurd and unacceptable to people in Japan who are witnessing a still unfolding disaster in Japan, and people in India who are brutally silenced by their government indulging in nuclear expansion misadventure. It is heartening to see that this campaign has received solidarity from people across the world who realise the risks of nuclear energy in a post-Fukushima world.”

Also, while most of the protesters stuck to regular demonstrations, protests near the controversial Jaitapur nuclear plant, that largely involve the fisher folk from the area, organised a more aggressive ‘Jail Bharo Andolan‘ against Areva’s proposed project for world’s biggest nuclear power park there.